Cornell's head coach, Ben DeLuca, sits down to talk a little bit about Cornell's fall period and the Capital Lacrosse Classic, a festival that benefited the Mario St. George Boiardi Foundation.
The Big Red were joined down at Landon School in Maryland by Johns Hopkins, North Carolina, and Penn State. It was a stacked field featuring some of the best players and coaching minds in the country, and, at least according to Lacrosse Magazine, Cornell came out as the most impressive team in the "tournament":
Though DeLuca said, "We didn't really keep track of the score, our goal was to come in and give a Boiardi-like effort, and our guys did that today," he couldn't be anything but thrilled about Cornell's performance.
The Big Red were the big winners Sunday, which was especially clear against the Blue Jays. They played with a high energy level, never let their opponents get comfortable and attacked in waves. With Ivy League restrictions limiting Cornell's fall practice schedule, if this is what they look like after a couple weeks, what will they look like come March?
By an unofficial tally, the Big Red led Hopkins 9-2 through two quarters, even though they were playing without their top two scorers. Rob Pannell, who isn't enrolled at Cornell this semester but will be in the spring, later suited up for Team USA. He was the scrimmage's leading scorer, tallying four goals and four assists. Matt Donovan did not play because of undisclosed injury but is expected to be fine for the spring.
The Red appear to be positioned for a big season up in Ithaca, what with Rob Pannell returning in the spring and Cornell having the look and work ethic of a team looking to hoist its first national championship since 1977. If the Red can iron out its goalie situation, this team will create a lot of damage throughout the country in 2013.